Marika sighed as her employer's phone went to voicemail once again. His mood had been decidedly sour for the past month and a half, not that anyone who didn't know him could tell. Now he'd fallen off the face of the Earth, refusing to contact anyone. No doubt something had happened with the fire demon he was seeing to. Marika had been watching him closely and couldn't help but note how his private phone had been disturbingly silent.
At first she had been pleased, no doubt the new development meant he had called off his little fling with the girl. But his increasing moodiness gave her cause to worry, just what had happened between the two of them?
Marika stubbornly pressed re-dial, this time with better results.
"One would think my repeated refusal to answer your call would be a sign…" he said in an irritated sigh.
"Where are you?"
"On holiday. It has been a while since I've taken one"
"This is most unlike you sir. Is something the matter?"
Sessho-maru seemed to hesitate.
"I assume this has something to do with Hidenori-san?"
"Do not…speak that name…" he hissed. Marika was taken aback.
"…I'll be back in a few months. I'm sure you can handle things until my return"
"Yes, sir" Marika said. Sessho-maru hung up and she regarded the phone with a worried expression. Never in all their long years together had she ever seen him like this, if she didn't know any better she would say he was suffering from a broken heart. Just the notion made her want to laugh until she cried.
Sessho-maru wasn't some love sick school boy. Still she couldn't help but worry about him, he'd never even taken so much as a vacation before. Then again, maybe he had decided to spend some quality time alone with that girl he was seeing. The very thought made Marika's stomach turn.
She gave another sigh as she stared out the window of her penthouse suite. As usual, there was nothing to do but wait until Sessho-maru decided to rejoin the world. But that could take several decades, at minimum. Marika proceeded to cancel all of Sessho-maru's meetings and appointments for the next few months but even then she knew she was being optimistic.
It didn't take Fawks long to spot Iru-sama in the crowd as she got off the plane. He embraced her warmly, "Welcome home, my child"
"I missed you so much, grandfather"
"I missed you too, dear one. Come, I'm sure you must be tired after your long flight"
Fawks stared dazily out the car window as they drove out to her childhood home in Kyoto.
"You seem restless, Firefly. Do you still not wish to talk about this young man who has captured you?"
"No, and he hasn't captured anything" she said quickly. The silence stretched on.
"Oh, grandfather…I just…I'm so confused…" she sighed.
"Do you care about him?"
"More then anything"
"Then what is there to be confused about?"
"I…I don't know a thing about him…!" she gave a dry laugh. "When we talk, it's usually about me or just mundane stuff. I don't know where he was born, what his life was like…"
"Have you tried asking?"
"Yeah but…he's not big on sharing. I asked him what his childhood was like and all he said was 'violent'" she pouted, leaning against the seat. "I stopped asking him things because I didn't want to annoy him…"
"Just who is this young man? You told me he was a youkai, but you haven't told me much else…"
Fawks stiffened, Iru smirked to himself. He knew he was teasing her now, but he couldn't help himself. It had been so long since he'd seen his sweet descendent.
"He's…inu youkai…"
"Inu youkai…quite rare indeed…" Iru nodded, "In fact, a dear friend of mine was Inu…"
"Okay…" she sighed, "He's…the son of your dear friend. His name is Sessho-maru…"
"Mm, that troublesome pup…" Iru began. "I'm surprised you were able to tame him…"
"What are you talking about? We just…did stuff together…"
"I'm sure…"
"Grandfather!"
'That pup must be losing his mind without her…I wonder how long it will take for him to come crawling to my doorstep…' Iru smirked to himself.
"…you're thinking evil thoughts aren't you…" Fawks glared.
"What on earth would make you say that, my Firefly?"
"You always get that weird smirk when you're thinking evil thoughts. Cut it out" She crossed her arms over her chest.
"Forgive me, dearest" he chuckled.
